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2 sheets-' sheet 1*.

(No Model.)

L. E. SALISBURY'.. KNITTINGMAGHINB.

Patented Nov. 6, 1894.

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2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

(No Model.) p

' L. BLSALISBURY.

KNITTING MACHINE.

Mahn-Q Patented NOV.. 6, 1894.

1 sims Perzns co. moroumo.. wAsHmrfron o c UNITED STATES PATENT OEErcE.

LEVI E. SALISBURY, OF PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND, ASSIGNOR TO HENRY A.CHURCH, OF SAME PLACE.

KNlTTING-MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 528,810, dated November6, 1894.

n Application iiled December 22, 1893. Serial No. l$94.407. (No model.)l

, and useful Improvements in Knittinglldachines; and I do hereby declarethefollowing to be a full, clear, and exact description'of" theinvention, such as will enable others skilled in thev art to which itappertains to make and use the same, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, and to letters of reference marked thereon, whichform a part of this specification.

In a patent of the United States, issued to me July '7, 1891,No..4.55,464., I have described and claimed certainimprovements in knit-'ting machines, the needles thereof being arranged and mounted' inadjustable straight bars, the whole forming what may be termed astraight knitting machine., In said ma-,

chine the fabric produced is composed of a series of warp-threads, aseries of upper knitting-threads interlocking with each other and withthe warp-threads, and a series of lower straight fillingthreadsalternating with the said upper threads and laid continuously along oneside of the warp-threads. The said patented machine is provided with aseries of fixed U-shaped warp-guides made of sheet steel and fastened toa stationary plate, the outer or free ends of the guides passing betweenand beyond theback side-of the needles; or in other Words, the guidesVextend just far enough back of the needles to prevent the filling-threadguide from coming in contact with thewarp-threads as it travels along.By reason of such construction the needles descend and draw theknitting-yarn down to make the stitch, at the same time drawing the yarnover the end of the warpguides. An objection to said construction isthat it is liable to produce imperfect work by cutting thevknitting-threads at weak places by reason of its contact with thewarp-guides. Another object is that when a needle is not perfectlystraight it is apt to strike the guide in rising, the result being toeither bend or break the needle or the guide itself.

In order to overcome the objections just reterred to I have devised theimprovement forming the subject of my present application for LettersPatent, the same consisting essentially of movable warp-guides arrangedto be successively actuated in sections or series 5 5 whereby they arethrust outwardly so as to hold the warps away from the filling-guide asthe latter travels along, and are then drawn back so as to avoid contactwith the rising needles; the said warp-guides remaining in 6o therearward position until after the descending needles'hav'e formed thecorresponding portion of the knitting-thread into loops or stitches, allas will'be more fully hereinafter set forth and claimed. 65

In the accompanying two sheets of drawings, Figure 1 is aA verticalsectional view, taken transversely through the upper portion of aknitting machine provided with my improvement. Fig. 2 is an enlargedtrans- 7o verse sectional view, showing portions of the needle-bar,frame,warpguide mechanism, 85o. Fig. 3 isa perspective View of thewarp-guide holders, supporting plate and actuating cam.

Fig. 4 is an end View of said cam. Fig. 5 is 75 a plan view of the cam.Fig. 6 is a side view 0f one of the warp-guides. Fig. 7 is a sideelevation showing a portion of the needle-bar and the adjacent part ofthe warp-guide holder, &c. Fig. 8 is a plan View of the same. 8o Fig. 9is a vertical sectional View, taken on line 0 o of Fig. 2, showing thearrangement of one group or series of needle-actuating cams, and Fig. 10is an enlarged sectional View, taken on line a: a: of Fig. 2, showing aportion of the grooved plate, dao., containing the warp-guides.

My present invention, as before stated, relates to improvements adaptedmore especially to be employed in the knitting machine 9o patented to meJuly 7, 1891, No. 455,464., the improvement residing essentiallyin somounting and actuating the several warp-guides that they operate both'to hold theswarpsaway from the traveling lilling-guide and also toprevent them from engaging the needles when the latter rise beyond theplane of the warpguides.

As the improvement is substantially to mechanism for actuating thewarp-guides I roo have not deemed it essential herewith to illustrateand describe the machine as a Whole.

Therefore the following specification sets forth the warpguide mechanismand its correlated parts. I would state, however, that the machine aspatented is provided with oppositely mounted needle-bars, and a pair ofrevolving shafts on which are mounted groups or series ofspirally-arranged cams, each cam actuating a cam-frame, the lattercarrying at its upper end a knitting needle adapted to be moved up anddown in a corresponding slot or groove formed in the front side of theneedle-bar. The machine is also provided with a series of continuouslytraveling bobbins carrying the filling-threads, similarly mounted andtraveling bobbins carrying the knitting threads, the filling threadsbeing laid in advance of the knitting-threads, and warpthreads passingto and alternating with the needles through the medium of fixed U-shaped guides.

In the drawings herewith t, t, designate the two needle-bars mounted insuitable framing s, the cam-shafts5 s', the cams; j, the camframes, andn the needles secured to the camframes adapted to work vertically in theneedle-bars. The fillingor weft-threads h are mounted on bobbins m2,which in turn are mounted on vertical holders or carriers c, a similararrangement of carriers f and bob; bins m', located at the top of themachine, being employed for carrying the knittingthreads h', as shown inFig. 1. The several knitting-threads are conducted downwardly to theneedles by suitable guide-tubes h4 travcling with the carriers f.

The carriers c are provided at the upper ends with means forautomatically changing the relation of the warp-threads w and theirguides g with respect to the needles,the same practically forming thepresent invention. By referring to Sheet 2 0f the drawings it will beseen that the top of the carrier is enlarged to form a head or table c'on top of which issecured a cam-block a; the latter having an irregularor cam-shaped groove a adapted to receive the shanks g of thewarp-guides g. These latter, instead of being stationary as in mypatented machine before referred to,`

are mounted to move endwise in grooves formed in the under side of thestationary supporting plate b which in turn is secured to pieces eattached to studs c tappedinto and depending from the under side of theupper bed of the machine. (See Fig. l.) The warpguides alternate withthe needles mounted in the bars t, and are arranged at substantiallyright angles therewith; the retracted or normal position of thewarp-guides being indicated in Fig. S at the right. To the rear orfarther side of each cam-block is secured a bent guide d whose free endis provided with i an eye d arranged to receive and carry a till-`ing-thread h,- the said eye portion extending beyond the line of thebacks of the needles and adapted to travel ahead, or longitudinally ofthe machine, in the space formed between the under-side of thewarp-guides and the tops of the needles, when the latter are in thenormal or lowest position. (See Figs. 2 and 7.)

In the present needle-actuating cams s I have represented them as havingthe center or hub portion provided with two concentric stops orprojections s2, s3, each extending circumferentially about ninetydegrees. By means of this construction each cam, after dropping itsneedle to the lowest point, or just below the top of the needle-bar t,in rotating immediately acts upon the needle-frame to lift the needle toa point ush with the under side of the warp-guides through the medium ofthe projection s2 followed by further elevating the needle by the secondprojection s3, after Which the toe s4 completes the vertical movement ofthe needle; the latter remainin g stationary until the said cam-toeengages the lug j of the frame and depresses the latter to its lowestposition, or as represented in Fig. 2, thus making one completerevolution. Fig. 9 shows a group or series of cams and needlescorresponding to one knitting-thread and one lling-thread. The cams arearranged spirally upon the shafts, and are separated by fixed washers ordisks m3. The horizontal line at the top indicates the upper edge of theneedle-bar t; d indicating the corresponding relation of the travelingfilling-thread guide, and h4 the traveling knit'- ting-thread guide, thesaid group of needles, die., being continuously repeated throughout thelength of the needle-bar.

The guide plate, b, is as before stated grooved on its under side tofreely receive the warp-guides g, a bottom cap or strip b2 beingdove-tailed into the plate to prevent the guides from falling out, asshown in Figs. 2, 3 and 10. To the front lower side of the plate b issecured a piece b, the same serving both as a guide or support for theupper portion of the carriers c and a stop b3 for the guides g. (SeeFig. 2.) Said stop is formed by cutting away the top of the piece b4,thus producing a shoulder to prevent the guides from being retracted toofar. By this arrangement the shanks g of the guides will successivelyenter the mouth m (Fig. 5) of the traveling cam for the purpose ofthrusting out the warp-guides.

From the foregoing it will be seen that the mechanism is adapted andarranged whereby the warp-guides are successively thrust ontwardly totheir limit, by cam a, just in advance of the filling-guide travelingalong below them, and at substantially the same instant that the step s2of the revolving cams s lifts the corresponding needles slightly abovethe needle-bar, thereby laying the fillingthreads under the warp-threadsand back of the needles and upon the previously formed knitting-threadloops or stitches upon the needles. The moving cam a, next retracts theguides g to the normal position thus carrying the warp across thefilling-threads, followed by introducing the knittingthreads which areIOO IIO

at once converted into loops or stitches and interlocked with thepreviously placed warps and filling-threads.

I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. In a knittingmachine, the combination with vertically arranged mechanically actuatedneedles, of a knitting-thread guide h4 traveling longitudinally of themachine and contiguous to the upper end of the needles, a filling-threadguide d located in advance of said guide h4 and traveling in concerttherewith above the needles, a series of warpguides g located above saidfilling-thread guide, arranged at substantially right angles with andalternating with the needles, and means for projecting the outer or freeends of the warp-guides from the front to the back of the needles inadvance of the traveling guide d and retracting them after it haspassed, substantially as described.

2. In a knitting machine of the class described, the combination with astationary plate b, mechanically actuated needles and independentlymovable warp-guides mounted in said plate and arranged at substantiallyright angles to the needles, 0f a continuously traveling iillingthreadholder and guide mounted below the warp-guides, a travelingknitting-thread guide h4 and mechanism, substantially as described, forintermittingly actuating the warp-guides endwise. n

3. In a knitting machine, mechanicallyactuated needles a suitablymounted stationary plate, as b, warp-guides, as g, loosely mounted inthe under side of said plate and provided .means forintermittinglyactuating said warpguides at right angles to the needles, of astationary needle-bar, movableneedles mounted in said bar and revolvingneedle-actuatingy cams, as s', arranged in continuous series, each camhaving steps, as s2, s3, s4, increasingin height formed ou its forwardor advancing side, substantially as described andn for the purpose setforth.

5. In a knitting machine employing a plurality of threads, thecombination of suitably mounted mechanically actuated needles,independently movable warp-guides arranged with respect to the needles,mechanism for successively projecting and retracting said guidesendwise, and mechanisms for feeding the threads and knitting themtogether to produce a fabric, substantially as described.

lIn testimony WhereofI have affixed my signature in presence of twowitnesses.

LEVI E. SALISBURY.

